


Sprained Reflections

by Alyas_Alias



Series: Ukitake Juushiro x Onmitsukido!Reader [4]
Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M, Piggy-Back Rides, Reader-Insert, injuries, trigger warning: suicide mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-03-17 17:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18969742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alyas_Alias/pseuds/Alyas_Alias
Summary: [Name] visits an old friend, sprains her ankle, and has to be carried home by her beloved husband.





	Sprained Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: In “Old Threads” there’s a moment where a character brings up suicide idealization a couple of times due to existential anxieties etc. In this installment a minor original character’s suicide is actually referenced. Just wanted to mention that in case it’s a trigger for anybody.
> 
> This installment started off with “I want Jushiro to give [Name] a piggy-back ride ‘cuz she sprained her ankle”. It was supposed to be light and fluffy ‘cuz I’ve been working on some of the darker/more serious installments of this series. I swear, these installments are getting longer and longer. I wonder if that’s a good thing, details in the end-notes and an important question to my readers. 
> 
> Notes/Ret-con notice:  
> -When I first started this Onmitsukido!Reader series my sources told me that Mimihagi was worshiped in the 78th district of Eastern Rukon. The Viz Media published manga and some wiki pages have stated it to be the 76th district, Sakahone. I may edit past installments someday, but for this installment I’m going to ret-con a little and say 76th since that’s what most of the sources are claiming—whether 78th was me being misinformed or my own typo, I have no idea. I try to use the full name, Sakahone as much as possible here and I’ll see what I do from here on out.
> 
> What you need to know:  
> -[Name] met Juushiro in the 76th District of Eastern Rukon when he was three, stricken with consumption, and his family brought him to Mimihagi. [Name] was an orphan living at Mimihagi’s true shrine which had been forgotten in time even if the people worshiped the deity.  
> -[Name] led the family to Mimihagi resulting in Juushiro being healed.  
> -Years later they returned to pay their respects and took [Name] in as a ward to streamline her application into the academy.  
> -[Name] was scouted to join the Onmitsukido at some point.  
> -Begins a over 110 years ago in a time when Urahara Kisuke is still the Warden of the Maggot’s Nest (and the Third-seat of the Second Company under Yoruichi).

            “Thank you very much. We’ll take good care of him.” [Name] hands off her prisoner to the head of the Detention Unit, Urahara Kisuke.

Her latest assignment was to gather intel on someone who harbored ‘dangerous’ ideals. Aida Makoto—she was just supposed to tail him and report on his activities and behaviors but she was forced to act when she discovered his plot to organize sympathizers to his ideals to revolt against the _Gotei_. In her opinion, the man and his ideals are not ‘dangerous’ in the sense that they pose a direct threat to anything. The man joined the _Gotei_ wanting to change things, to allow officers to defend their homes—especially those originally from Rukon. It’s a wonderful idea, something [Name] supports when she thinks back to her home in Sakahone (76th district), but the man went about it in the wrong way.

Rather than pose the idea at a meeting, he thought he’d overrule Yamamoto Genryusai by making it a public announcement/declaration to try to force Genryusai’s hand. He planned on making Genryusai the face of an archaic system of order that allowed innocent civilians to be slaughtered by Hollow because of his stubborn adherence to the bureaucratic system of reporting a Hollow attack and dispatching a squad of reapers. People died in the time it took to report the Hollow and organize a team to neutralize the threat. He had hoped to gather public support for his regime and force Genryusai to give the okay or resign. [Name] confronted him about his methods, hoping he’d scrap the idea, but Makoto was dead-set on his plan. His plan would have caused chaos and spread massive civilian unrest. It would have disrupted order and people would have been hurt in the process. She agrees that their system is needlessly bureaucratic and archaic, but a revolt is not the way to change things.

“I still can’t get used to this.”

            “Hmm?”

            “All of them in here. Most of them haven’t done anything and they’re all locked up the same as criminals.”

            “They’re not locked up. They’re not allowed to leave the facility, but they’re allowed to roam as they please.”

            “It’s the same thing—the cell’s just bigger.” [Name] scoffs at the cheery, laid-back warden of the ‘Maggot’s Nest’.

            “So, what would you suppose be done instead?” Kisuke’s lips twitch into some semblance of a smile. He doesn’t get many opportunities to interact with people outside of the Maggot’s Nest. Most of the people that come to deliver a new inmate are in a hurry to leave the place and members of the _Onmitsukido_ aren’t known for being chatty. “Just between you and me, of course.”

            “We can call it what we want, but these people are being held against their will. They aren’t allowed to leave and they weren’t given a chance to argue their case. All because they have ideals that differ or undermine the established order.” [Name] grits her teeth as she remembers how close she came to being an inmate here.

            Back in her days at the academy she seriously considered graduating and returning to Rukon to run a sweets shop. Juushiro was a sixth year at the time—he didn’t know. Those that graduate from Shin’o are already a threat. Joining one of the big-three organizations is encouraged. Barring that, going into the service of a noble family is still an acceptable career-path. Most things outside of that aren’t tolerated. She knows, some of her classmates disappeared before graduation. She later found them here, in the Maggot’s Nest. The day she found out is etched into her memories because some of her classmates were brought here for the same sentiments she harbored: wishing to return to Rukon and act as a protector—without the authorization being part of the _Gotei_ came with. In retrospect, she should have suspected as much. There are no graduates of Shin’o hanging around in Rukon.

            It was heartbreaking, visiting the Maggot’s Nest, after she found out what happened to some of the people she used to know. Masuda Kyousuke was one of her classmates. He was an average student and had a magnetic personality. He wasn’t bad looking either. People flocked to him and he wasn’t stingy about helping people practice their skills. He was popular. He was also very loud-spoken about his vision to take the knowledge he learned at the academy back to Rukon, to teach what he could to ordinary citizens so that they could better defend themselves against Hollows while they waited for official help to arrive.

            Kyousuke wasn’t at graduation. Nobody knew what happened to him. He was just gone one day. It was years before [Name] found out what happened to him, from the man himself to boot. It was her first time bringing a capture to the Maggot’s Nest. Kyousuke recognized her and told her his story. She couldn’t bring herself to enter the Maggot’s Nest for a while after that, dropping off her charges at the doors after ensuring they’d be received.

            A few years later she was forced to walk in because Kisuke forgot he was to receive someone that day. [Name] cried at what she learned that day. Kyousuke had hung himself; he wasn’t the only person there she knew anymore though. Sakahone Chisuzu was there. She was one of the orphans [Name] looked after before she was taken in by the Ukitake clan.

            [Name] and Juushiro went back to Sakahone for visits often—to visit the children and pay their respects to Mimihagi. With their wages, they bought and kept up a house near the area where children with nowhere to go could stay. Their own little orphanage and summer-home as they liked to call it. The place came with an officially recognized address and [Name] used her knowledge in _kido_ to ward the place against Hollow attacks. All children and orphans were welcome to stay and live in the place as they pleased and the address was open to any resident that needed a mailing address to apply for the admittance into the academy. [Name] sent snacks as often as she could if she couldn’t go there to make sweets in-person. Juushiro never forgot to send snacks (specifically candy) to the place for every major event and birthday.

            [Name] remembered Chisuzu quite well. The girl was just a baby, still in swaddling blankets, when a Hollow killed her parents. [Name] pried her from the arms of a dead woman in Sakahone and brought her to Mimihagi’s shrine all those years ago. She named her Chisuzu after the little bell the baby had on a little necklace.

            Chisuzu had developed some level of spirit energy after [Name] left and she had applied to the academy. For reasons unknown, she was detained and brought to the Maggot’s Nest in her fourth year. It broke [Name]’s heart seeing her in there.

            Chisuzu became the reason she started staying whenever she dropped a new inmate off. Chisuzu became the reason she started asking her targets to change their ways and warning them of the consequences. Thanks to her connection to Kisuke and position in the _Onmitsukido_ , [Name] also brings the inmates sweets whenever she can. They’re locked up against their will, some by her hands, so she feels she should visit them. Most of them haven’t done anything, they were simply deemed ‘dangerous’ and left to rot.

The children’s faces always lit up back in Sakahone whenever [Name] arrived and made them sweets. Chisuzu’s heart-shaped face still did the same despite the fact that she was locked up for life and away from the other children. [Name] made a vow to protect her, to not treat her any differently, and to ensure that Chisuzu didn’t end up like Kyousuke.

“EEK!” [Name] snaps out of her reverie, hearing a familiar voice cry out in terror.

“Chisuzu!” [Name] leaps to action, using _shunpo_ to take Chisuzu out of harm’s way before she registers what sort of harm she’s taking her from. Kisuke faces the other end of the situation, staring him down despite the aggressor being almost four times his size.

One of the larger inmates snapped and tried to get violent. His name eludes her, but [Name] remembers that this one had something done to his brain by one of the other inmates—he doesn’t have the capacity for rational thought anymore and is unstable. She knows all this, but the giant came close to killing Chisuzu.

“[Name]? You came to visit?” Chisuzu perks up in her arms, conveniently forgetting that she nearly died just now. She hugs her big sister and role model. “I’m so happy!” [Name] returns the hug after she’s certain Kisuke has the giant under control.

“Bitch!”

A sharp pain registers in her mind before she realizes she is on the ground, Chisuzu still clutched in her arms. A sly inmate took his shot when [Name] was distracted and Kisuke was off dealing with the larger inmate. The man has a powder-purple plume of hair growing out of his otherwise bald head. He’s disturbing to say the least. [Name] remembers him instantly—she was in charge of the mission to detain him. He was once an officer. Apparently when he was alive in the World of the Living he always wanted to be a serial killer. He thought of how to torment and kill his victims and took some sick pleasure from his fantasies. He died in an accident and came to Soul Society. He hid the sadistic, murderous side of himself pretty well, but when reports of missing citizens and minor officers came to light he was found out. He was another of [Name]’s classmates in the academy, known as Murakami Sakuya.

“Oooohh…I’ve waited for this. I’ve waited for years. You were _perfect_! I wanted to sink my nails into you since first year. You were so innocent then, so naïve and pretty as you dozed off during the welcoming speech. I wanted to tear into you then and there, but there were too many eyes that day.”

[Name] moves to get up and bites back a cry of pain. The sharp pain she felt reverberating through her earlier came from her left foot. She must have sprained something when purple-top tackled her off of the ledge she was crouched on. She snarls, having already done an assessment of the situation. They’re in the Maggot’s Nest; _zanpakuto_ aren’t allowed in here and the place is made of materials that negate spirit energy, meaning _kido_ is off-limits too. Anyone who enters must be skilled in _hakuda_ and be able to handle the inmates with their bare hands. Normally, [Name] would have no problems with this sort of set up. _Kido_ is her forte, but she’s had to fight with _hakuda_ many times before. It’s how she took down purple-top the first time. Unfortunately, she can’t do that now with Chisuzu in her arms and a bad sprain radiating pain up her leg. She smirks, knowing that showing fear means death in this situation. Sakuya loves fear; he gets off on it. [Name] clutches Chisuzu closer to her chest, keeping her face hidden in hopes that Sakuya won’t notice the fear in the younger girl and change targets.

“A sneak attack? I thought better of you, Sakuya.”

“Shut it, bitch! You’re going to pay for putting me in here! I’ll—” An elbow to his jaw stops his rage-induced monologue.

“Are you alright?” Kisuke offers [Name] a hand, pulling her up after he’s certain Sakuya is down for the count.

“I can’t believe you don’t keep him locked up. Makoto, I understand…but Sakuya? How has he not killed anyone in here yet?” Kisuke smiles at her complaints. “Ah, Chisuzu, were you scared? Did anyone like that try to hurt you?”

“Sakuya has kept his murderous tendencies on the down-low since you brought him here. Apparently, he had vowed to kill you next and refused to renege on that vow.”

“Well, at least I’m good for something.” [Name] pats Chisuzu on the head, smoothing out some of her hair that got messed up in the scuffle. “Right! I didn’t have time to bring snacks for everyone this time, but I did bring lunch. Is it alright if I share with you, Chisuzu?” [Name] phrases her question for her friend, but her eyes flick to Kisuke for permission. He grants it with a nod.

“That sprain is going to be trouble though. Should I send for someone to carry you out of here afterwards?” Kisuke, the ever-observant one.

“And have it get around that I was felled by a sprained ankle? Spare me. I’d never live it down.”

“You’re not planning on walking back on that leg, are you?”

“No,” [Name] brightens as she realizes the date. “Dropping Makoto off was the last thing on my list of duties today. The second I handed you the reigns I was off the clock. Send word to Ukitake Juushiro of Thirteenth. He’ll get me home.” Kisuke raises an eyebrow but goes off to do as he’s told once he’s sure [Name] is settled to eat lunch with Chisuzu. She brought _onigiri_ with a side of _kaarage_ and some mixed-veggies to share along with some castella for dessert. [Name] ends up splitting her piece of the castella with a boy tinkering away at something at a table. Chisuzu told her the boy is named Akon and he doesn’t talk much, but he’s one of the nicer inmates. He reminds her of some of the kids back in Sakahone.

[Name] regales her with tales, going undercover, trying new foods, and styling Chisuzu’s hair in a new way that she learned from the other kids in Rukon. They used to braid and knot strings as charms for the shrine back when they were all just orphans. The children continue that tradition and occasionally have some new decorative knot they teach [Name]. She braids one of them into Chisuzu’s hair, keeping her long bangs out of her face.

 

            _SPLUTTA-SPLUT!_

            In his office, Ukitake Juushiro sighs as he hears something disgusting hit a wall somewhere. He continues reviewing and signing paperwork, not bothering to investigate the source of the noises. No doubt one of his squad members got drunk on-duty and did something ridiculous, vile, or both. He’ll let someone else worry about that.

            “Ukitake,” A laid-back voice calls to him from outside. He’d recognize that voice anywhere as belonging to his long time friend.

            “Kyouraku?” Juushiro sets his pen down and goes to the window to see why his friend has stopped outside rather than coming in to bother him like he usually does. “What’s going on? Come in.”

            Kyouraku stands outside of the office, pinching his hat between his fingers as he surveys the portion of wall right by the window. Curious, Juushiro slides open the door and joins his friend in wall-gazing. He gasps when he sees splatters of red marring the usually pristine white wall, trickling down and revealing…letters?

            “Well well, you can’t ignore this.” Shunsui pulls his hat down to hide his face once again but Juushiro catches the mischievous smirk on his lips.

 

_“We have something precious in our possession. Send Ukitake Juushiro to the Second Company barracks at once. He is to request an audience with one Urahara Kisuke. Tell no one else of this summons. Ukitake Juushiro is to come to the Second Company barracks, alone. Anyone who reads this summons and thinks it’s like something out of a kidnapping thriller story…has no sense of humor.”_

 

            Juushiro lets out an exasperated breath. The cleaners are going to _love_ this. Without stopping to think about it, Juushiro begins to walk in the direction of Second Company. Shunsui knows his way around and will see himself out. Juushiro sighs, he requested time off and was set to get off of work early today. Now he’s been summoned by someone in Second Company. The tone of the message, as well as the format, was a little jarring and playful; but Juushiro refuses to simply ignore it. Second Company is closely entwined with the _Onmitsukido_ , where [Name] is. He refuses to ignore anything that may involve his wife, especially being privy to what she does.

He remembers all too well being brought to Fourth Company decades ago by a tight-lipped person who gave vague, cryptic responses if he responded at all. He thought a member of his Company had gotten hurt and needed him to sign them out but what he found was much worse. [Name] was there, bloody and unconscious. They weren’t married back then, or even dating. It just so happened that when they recovered her from a mission gone south they found his name on an envelope kept in her clothing, close to her heart.

Those tiny white envelopes are sacred in the _Onmitsukido_ , so he was told. Before being deployed on long-term or dangerous missions everyone on the mission is tasked with writing a letter. It could be to anyone—a family member, another member of the division, a lover, etc. Once sealed, the only person allowed to open it was the intended recipient. The sealed envelops were usually kept in the member’s individual lockers—waiting to be retrieved and burned (upon successful completion of the mission), or delivered (in the event of a KIA or MIA). Members aren’t required to keep the letters in their lockers. Some keep it on their person, usually those that don’t have anyone to send theirs to or have addressed it to a deceased loved one. Others send theirs or put it somewhere the intended recipient will find in time. It’s up to the individual member what they wish to do with it. The letters and the white envelopes are essentially their last words.

There are no official rules stating what one is allowed to include in their letters, but recipients could become the target of assassinations if the letters reveal too much information. Juushiro realized when he was given a slightly blood-soaked letter that he had received one before. When [Name] was first deployed on covert operations she left one in his room under a book and with a substantial chunk of her hair.

Her letter revealed her feelings for him. Despite the blood soaking into parts of the letter, it is a fond memory for him. It was the day he realized his affections were requited. It was the day he gained a true significant other.

He knows not to ignore a summons now, no matter how cryptic. A few members of his squad have taken notice and it’s a common prank they pull on their captain. They find some way to summon him and get him all worried only to have it be a surprise party or a gift for him (they’ll prank him, but it’s never mean-spirited).

He hopes he isn’t going to receive another white envelope today.

 

“Okay…you can open your eyes…now.”

[Name] opens her eyes to see Chisuzu’s grinning face. She reaches up to feel at her hair, running her hand along a textured part of it.

“Four-strand plait?”

Chisuzu huffs. “Dang it! You always guess it too quickly!” [Name] chuckles.

It’s a game they used to play as children in Rukon. Everyone got fairly good at knotting and twisting threads into interesting patterns so they started challenging each other to tell them apart by feel. It’s an interesting game for them, good considering a lot of objects and items are banned entry into the Maggot’s Nest.

“[Name], he’ll be here soon.” Kisuke drops in on their little game to deliver a subtle message for them to wrap it up. It’s been about four hours since the incident with Sakuya. Kisuke was busy trying to figure out the best way to notify the captain of Thirteenth and he wanted to give [Name] and Chisuzu time to visit. [Name] acknowledges him and turns to Chisuzu.

“Alright, Chisuzu, I’ve got a favor to ask of you,” The girl perks up at being asked for something. Considering her status as an inmate, she doesn’t have much of anything to offer. She’s always idolized [Name] though, as a big sister and as a role model. It’s why she went to the academy. “I’m going to be attending a birthday party tomorrow and I don’t know what to do with my hair. Could you help me out?” Chisuzu smiles wide and immediately gets to work, sliding behind [Name] on her knees and fussing over her hair. Kisuke smiles at the sight.

He’s the warden here and interacts with the inmates the most out of anybody. Detaining them may be his job, but he feels sorry for a lot of them. A lot of the people here have done nothing wrong. Their detainment for something they could potentially do is archaic. He doesn’t agree, but if he were to put those thoughts into words he’d find himself as an inmate rather than a warden. If he searched the records he’d know for sure how Chisuzu ended up in here, but it won’t change the fact that she’s a child. She’s a little girl that was thrown into a detainment center for reasons that probably don’t even make sense to her. It’s nice seeing her acting her age and having a friend to interact with.

“[Name], he’s here!” Kisuke calls from the door after getting confirmation that the Captain of 13th is indeed waiting on the other side of the moat to the Maggot’s Nest.

“Done!” Chisuzu announces as she finishes tucking the ends of [Name]’s hair into an elaborate system of braids. [Name] reaches up to feel the intricate designs woven into her hair.

“I love it,” She almost tears up. Chisuzu went all-out for her hair. “Thank you, Chisuzu.” She ruffles the girl’s hair as she gets up, wrapping an arm around Kisuke’s shoulders as he helps her gain her balance. “Any requests for the next snack I bring?”

“C-Chiffon cake!” Chisuzu calls out. “I-I heard someone talking about it when they came in. I want to try it.” She blushes. [Name] smirks—finally, a dessert she hasn’t heard of. She’ll need to do extensive research to learn how to make it and make it well enough to bring to Chisuzu next time.

“Gotcha. See you soon, Chisuzu.” With another ruffle of her hair, [Name] hobbles away supported by Kisuke.

 

As they exit the Maggots Nest [Name] sees her husband in the distance, across the moat. He smiles when he sees that she’s not covered in blood, but frowns at her hobbling toward him, supported by a man other than himself.

“And what did you do to yourself this time?” He gently admonishes her as they get within speaking distance.

“There was a little scuffle inside. Not to worry, [Name] handled herself quite well.” Kisuke tries to answer but it’s clear that Juushiro isn’t talking to him.

Before they’ve cleared the bridge across the moat Juushiro is already there to meet them, immediately removing [Name]’s arm from around Kisuke’s shoulders and slinging it over his own as he looks over his wife for any obvious injuries.

_So, the captain of Thirteenth is the jealous type._ Kisuke files that information away for later.

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s just a sprain.”

“Just?” A silent staring contest breaks out between the two, ending with [Name] looking away.

“Fine. I may have gotten involved in something unnecessary to get this way—but I was fighting to protect life, I swear!”

[Name] throws Juushiro’s philosophy at him in hopes it’ll spare her a lecture on getting involved in dangerous things. She’s a spy that works to detain people thought to be too dangerous to join the most dangerous organization in all of Soul Society; she’s maxed out her allowance on getting involved in dangerous situations with her job alone.

Juushiro has an uncanny ability to say a lot with his eyes. He doesn’t need an hours-long tirade berating [Name] for putting herself in danger—that look truly is the look of a thousand words and maybe more. In three seconds [Name] knows he doesn’t approve of her attempt to use his philosophy against him, that he’s worried about her and he’s definitely going to have a close look at her sprain later, that he’s going to _thoroughly_ check her over for any other injuries when they get home, and that he’s disappointed in her for trying to play off an injury bad enough to get her to wrap her arms around another man.

“Thanks for letting me visit, Kisuke.” Finishing up with formalities, [Name] hobbles along beside Juushiro as they walk out of the Second Company together. She feels her heart swell with warmth as she notices how he shortens his strides to accommodate her.

This certainly isn’t the first time she’s ever sprained something and Kisuke wasn’t the first person to help her along. Previous helpers didn’t bother to shorten their strides, allowing her feet to drag along the dirt as they took on more of her weight on their shoulders. Juushiro’s not like that. He’d never drag her along the floor, not even when they’re trying it a little rough. He respects her too much for that.

Once they’re clear of Second Company, Juushiro sets her down on a boulder along the side of the path. He kneels and begins to strip off the _zori_ sandal and _tabi_ sock of her injured foot. He works meticulously with practiced movements. Delicate, so as not to cause her more pain, but with deft movements. He knows that she replaces the _hanao_ of her _zori_ with lengths of ribbon that wind up her leg. She’s done this to every pair of her own shoes since he did it for her when he gave her an old pair of hand-me-downs all those years ago. He knows exactly how high up she ties the ribbons and even where to pull to undo the whole thing. He knows about the underlayer of leggings she wears, tucked into her socks.

In a matter of seconds he has her foot bare before him, leggings rolled up to expose the developing bruise along the outer side of her foot and fading just before her calf. Her foot is starting to swell, a sure sign that it’s shaping up to be a nasty sprain. He raises an eyebrow at her in challenge. Once again, his eyes are expressive. _Just_? They seem to taunt her, throwing her words from before right back at her.

With a few prods to the joint he determines that it’s indeed a sprain and that nothing is broken. Satisfied, he collects her discarded sock and sandal in one hand, turns around, and crouches before her. [Name] flushes, seeing her husband kneeling before her, offering his back to her.

“We’ll be home much faster this way. It’s not broken, but I’ll rest easier once you’re in bed and we have ice on that foot.” His tone is enough to let her know that it’s no use arguing with him.

She leans forward and snakes her arms around Juushiro’s neck, allowing her legs to slide into the space between his arms and torso. In a moment he’s on his feet, hands gently gripping [Name]’s thighs as he begins the long walk to Ugendo. [Name] breathes in his scent as he walks, delighting in the way his silky white ponytail tickles her face as she breathes. As always, he smells faintly of tea and the sea.

“Sorry, Juu- _chan_.”

She buries her face into his shoulder, murmuring her words into the fabric of his captain’s _haori_. They both know she’s not apologizing for today, not only for today. She’s been away for five months on a covert mission to track down Makoto and bring together enough hard evidence to detain him. She came home today, wrapping up her mission just in time to attend Hatori’s birthday celebration tomorrow. A sprained ankle and having to retrieve her from where she sprained it isn’t the kind of surprise she had in mind for her husband. He doesn’t slow his pace.

“Aa. Welcome home, [Name].”

He forgives her. He always does. Knowing what she does for a living and living with the constant fear that she could die somewhere far away and he’d be none the wiser—having that hanging over their heads makes a sprained ankle seem minor. He doesn’t mind being inconvenienced for her. He doesn’t care how far he has to go—if he had to, he would gladly walk through hell to bring her home on his back.

Tomorrow is an important day for them. Tomorrow is Hatori’s birthday, their youngest sibling. It’s the day his biological family was completed. Due to the nature of her job, [Name] can’t always be home for milestone events or celebrations. Having her back for Hatori’s birthday makes it all the more special, even if she has to do it with an injured foot. She’s part of the family too, and not just because she married Juushiro. All of the siblings look up to her as the Lady of the clan, and before that they saw her as an older sister. She was a part of their lives for as long as some of them could remember (in the case of Hatori).

“Get some sleep, [Name]. Tomorrow’s going to be pretty hectic.”

Juushiro loves his family, but he knows that things get kind of rowdy when all of them are together. The fact that they’re all old enough to drink and that Shunsui was invited means it’s going to be livelier than anything he could imagine. It always is. He knows [Name] doesn’t sleep well on missions. She misses his presence just as he misses hers. When she manages to come home after a longer mission she usually ends up dead to the world for at least twelve hours if not longer.

[Name] doesn’t need to be told twice. She’s already being lulled to sleep by the steady rhythm of Juushiro’s footfalls. It doesn’t take long before she’s out like a light, dreaming about the past.

 

**[Name]’s Dream/Memory**

 

            “Juu- _chan_ , it’s fine. Go on ahead before it gets dark. You’ll catch a cold.”

            “I’m not leaving you.”

            The sun is setting on two figures making their way slowly through the paths of the Seireitei. One of them is leaning heavily on the wall alongside the path, using it to balance herself as she slowly limps her way home. The other stands at her other side, ready to catch her should she over-balance or trip.

            Juushiro and [Name] are on their way home from the academy. Classes let out more than two hours ago. [Name] stayed behind for _hoho_ practice, a defensive form of fighting relying heavily on footwork and mastery of _shunpo_. Juushiro had _kendo_ practice with Genryusai- _sensei_ and Shunsui. They agreed to meet each other by the gates to head home together, but [Name] didn’t make it to the gates and Shunsui had a curfew to meet.

Juushiro went looking for [Name] and had to sign her out from the infirmary. Apparently, she had landed hard and sprained her ankle rescuing a classmate from a poorly-aimed _kido_ spell. The one that fired it claimed it was an accident, that the spell went out of control. The instructors are wary of his excuses though. For some reason, Murakami Sakuya set all of them on edge.

            They left the Academy more than an hour ago. Usually it only takes forty minutes for them to get back to Ugendo, and that’s if they walk leisurely.

            “Here—just put your arm around my shoulders. We’ll get home faster.” Juushiro doesn’t give her an opportunity to protest. He takes her arm, slings it over his shoulders, and starts taking them away from the wall. Just as well, the wall diverges from their path home from here on out. There would be no more walls for [Name] to lean against until arriving at Ugendo as she staggered along.

            Moments like these Juushiro curses his body. He’s always been sickly and skinny. Trying to build muscle-mass always resulted in him being bedridden from overexertion. He can’t help but think that [Name] must think he is pathetic; that she’d be so much happier walking home with someone that could give her a piggy-back ride or support her the whole way home with her sprained ankle.

            “Thank you, Juu- _chan_. Drop me if I get too heavy, ‘kay?” [Name] flicks a stubborn lock of hair from his face. “And stop thinking whatever it is you’re thinking. I wasn’t using the wall ‘cuz I thought you couldn’t support me. There was a perfectly good wall until now. No use in both of us being exhausted on the way over.”

            “I won’t drop you.” Juushiro stubbornly states through gritted teeth, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. [Name] snorts.

            “Yeah, you won’t drop me. You’ll keel over, hacking up a lung before you’d ever think to just put me down. And when you wake up from that fainting spell your first thought will be whether or not I got home.” She isn’t laughing at him, he knows this. “Seriously though, don’t push yourself. One invalid is enough and currently I occupy that position. If it comes to it, put me down. We’re close enough to home that you can make it there and send help to come fetch me within twenty minutes.”

            “Eiji would laugh at me.”

            “No, he wouldn’t. They’ll scold you for exerting yourself, then they’ll scold me for letting you exert yourself trying to get me home, then they’ll scold both of us for not asking for help and waiting at the academy for someone to come and pick us up. And then _Oji-san_ and _Oba-san_ will get raise a fuss with the academy, demanding that the one who fired the spell be expelled for causing my injury. The academy will be in an uproar, elitist pricks and their parents will get all up in arms, it’ll cause a war of the Houses. I’m not willing to be the lowly ward that kicks up such a fuss. I repeat: if it comes to it just drop me and find help.” [Name] jokes, trying to lighten the mood because she’s in no position to lighten the load on Juushiro’s shoulders.

            “He deserves it though. How many times can he get away with calling it an ‘accident’?” Juushiro spits.

            “It wasn’t the same elitist ass that fired the _Shakkahou_ at my hair that time.”

            “I don’t understand how he wasn’t expelled.”

            “He’s from a noble family. You know how they are. White becomes black, truths become lies, all that jazz. Relax, we got even.”

            “How’d you do that? Last I checked, he still had all his hair.”

            “Reika came up with a new game: ‘ _Byakurai_ every time the elitist prick tries to be an elitist prick’. Just ‘cuz none of the spells have actually hit him, doesn’t mean he isn’t scared.”

            “I’ll bite. How have you guys gotten away with that?”

            “He’s afraid. _Byakurai_ is easier to aim and control than _Shakkahou_. We miss, but we mean to miss, and he knows it. We’ve got finer control over how much _reiatsu_ we put into the spell. It doesn’t take all that much to shoot an easily-missed spark that packs a punch. A singed sock once in a while, strategically placed holes burned into his _hakama_.”

            “You didn’t—”

            “It was Reika’s idea after he and his goons took my shoes and broke Sakura’s hair-pin. We haven’t done any real damage; but pricks like him don’t deserve to procreate.”

            The two keep up the banter as they near Ugendo. To avoid being scolded, Juushiro relents to setting her down by the gates and running in to get someone to carry her into the house. Ukitake Mitsuru, the thirteenth head of the clan and Juushiro’s father, comes out and scoops his honorary daughter into his arms. He’s trailed by Lady Chiyo, his wife and mother to Juushiro.

            Mitsuru is every bit a doting father as he takes her and reassures her that she will be fine, calling for one of the staff to bring ice to her bedroom. Chiyo is the more calculating of the two. She’s done the time calculations and probably suspects that [Name] had help getting home on her leg like that. She chooses not to say anything though, considering Juushiro isn’t hacking up a lung. Instead she tries to get answers, trying to determine if someone has threatened her ward and family. [Name] lies and says she slipped and fell while practicing _hoho_.

It’s not entirely a lie. They _were_ practicing _hoho_ and she did end up tripping…just not because of the practice. [Name] may have been joking when she mentioned a war of the Houses, but if any mother-bear were to start something like that Lady Chiyo would definitely have it in her. Juushiro hopes for [Name]’s sake that his mother never finds out the truth. All it would take would be a visit to the academy for his mother to get answers.  

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve finally given names to the Ukitake parents! LOL that took a long time and I’m actually a little proud of the thought I put into naming all of Juushiro’s family members. I won’t go into a whole spiel about it here ‘cuz that would take up precious character-space and I have an important question to my readers:
> 
> The installments are getting longer. “Tattoos” started out with about 2,000 words, “Omamori” was double that, and “Old Threads” was double that as well. Maybe Kira Izuru used Wabisuke on my writing? Doubled and then doubled again exponentially.
> 
> My question(s) for my readers: Do you like longer installments? Would it be better if I broke longer installments into chapters so that it’s easier to read/scroll? Please let me know what you think in a comment.
> 
> Long chapters are great and all, more detail and whatnot, but sometimes seeing how far I have to scroll to read the whole thing is a little daunting for me. I know readers have lives outside of fanfic reading. There are meals to cook, dishes to wash, people to take care of, and homework or any other sort of work to do. Seeing a super-long chapter to read through would be daunting and I feel like if a fic installment can’t be finished in one sitting it might deter fans. Personally, I like chunking chapters and keeping them short enough to read in under 10-15 minutes. Sometimes there are paragraphs/”scenes” I like to revisit and a super long chapter is daunting because it makes things hard to revisit/find. 
> 
> If I do make longer installments chaptered entries into this series the chapters would probably be posted all together or very close (in time) together. I tend to jump back and forth when I write—so I’m tweaking paragraphs on page 1 as I write on page 15 of the document etc. This sort of writing-style means I probably wouldn’t be posting chapter 1 of a long installment without the latter parts of it complete or at the very least in editing.
> 
> Please let me know what you think. Opinions on long installments etc. I’d love to hear from my readers. I post things because I’d love to connect with like-minded fans. People who love Bleach or Juushiro or my head-canony mess of reader-inserts etc. I get ideas from fans that interact. I’m motivated to write stuff because people talk to me and remind me I have a series to work on etc. I don’t have to post my work but being able to make people happy when they read it makes me happy, so I do it for you guys. So…yeah, let me know if you’d prefer I chunk longer installments or not. It’s all the same on my computer—the entire installment comes at me all at once on my Word Processor—flashing “Page 17 of 21” at me regardless if I post it all at once or if I chunk it.


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